What You Eat CAN Hurt You!

We’ve talked about the four possible sources of stress being emotional, physical, nutritional, and environmental. Not many people would consider stress coming from nutritional sources so, this month let’s focus on how damaging nutritional stress can be and how to avoid it. If you give your bodies toxin-loaded, nutritionally deficient foods, your health and wellbeing will be jeopardized. Your body will have to spend too much time trying to figure out how to handle the pesticides, artificial ingredients and artificial sweeteners, all of which damage our immune systems. The problem clearly is two-fold. One is to inform people so that they are aware there is a problem. The second is to empower them to act on that information. My intention with this article is to make you aware of the challenges and to give you resources to find more information. Then you will be able to make informed choices to feed yourself and your family good nutritious food, avoiding GMOs and toxic foods and ingredients. Let’s not forget the importance of healthy lotions and cosmetics. You shouldn’t put anything on your body that you couldn’t conceivably put in your mouth. Your skin is your largest organ and anything you apply to it will eventually wind up in your blood stream. (http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/) A third source of toxins is the cleaners that you use on your house. There are so many natural cleaners that are just as easy to use. (http://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners) Firstly, if you buy ANYTHING in a box you MUST read the label. “Pray tell,” you ask, “what am I looking for?” I’m glad you asked because some of the things that you will never see on labels could be the most damaging and stressful to your body: PFCs, PFOAs and BPA used in the packaging, especially canned goods, snack foods, and even microwave popcorn. Between the GMO corn available and the packaging, I now only buy organic popcorn, which I cook with an air-popper (I don’t even own a microwave!) I have become best friends with the bulk section at Winco because I can still read the ingredients and it is not packaged. I bring it home and put it in my own glass containers. Go to mercola.com and type “How to Read and Understand Food Labels” in the search engine. The article refers to “natural”, “local”, “no artificial preservatives”, or “real fruit”, to name a few. These terms can be very misleading. Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of what else can cause nutritional stress. · Acidic Foods and Diet o Fast Foods: Loaded with unhealthy fats, sugar & sodium o Sugar: There is no Recommended Daily Allowance but the Heart Association suggests that most women should only consume about 100 calories or 6 teaspoons and men about 150 calories or 9 teaspoons. A 12 oz. can of soda has 140 calories of high fructose corn syrup. Do the math. o Meats: About 80% of the antibiotic in the US are used for livestock. We eat the meat and then become resistant to antibiotics. Plus any livestock raised in a CAFO (confined animal feeding operations) often have hormones, infections, etc. o Starchy Carbs, Very sweet fruits: can spike blood sugar levels causing instability in insulin production. o Alcohol: is metabolized like sugar. o Artificial Sweeteners (aspartame (Equal), sucralose (Splenda), Saccharin (Sweet & Low): actually make you crave carbohydrates. Your body tastes the sweetness and is looking for the calories.

· Tobacco

·Pharmaceuticals-Even when needed, they disturb your body’s equilibrium and can cause unwanted side-effects

Chemically treated and GMO Foods

There many spices which enhance your health, among which are: cinnamon, (I put it on salads), capsaicin (the hot spice in red pepper), turmeric, cumin, oregano, ginger, thyme and rosemary. Google “spices for health”. AND, let us remember that dark chocolate has health benefits not seen in other varieties. Many foods that are good for us resemble the organs that they support. http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1398328/food_patterns_of_our_body/ Send me an email and I will be happy to email you EWG’s lists; The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15, showing the fruits and vegetables with the most and the least pesticides.Pat Farrell has a private practice in the High Desert and works with corporate health and wellness programs. She has been teaching Stress Management since 1991 and is the author of How to Be Happy…No Matter What’s Happening. Pat can be reached at 760-961-4027 or pfarrell6@gmail.com. Visit her website at pat-farrell.com for past articles.